[1] Samuel Johnson’s lost years.
[2] A well-observed profile of Dwarkesh (archive)
[3] Sabbatai Zevi (1626 - 1676). Religious movements can survive blatant failures of prophecy. People are creative; they find ways to re-interpret what the prophecies really meant. It’s hard to think of a better example of this phenomenon than Sabbatai Zevi, a self-proclaimed Jewish Messiah . At the very height of his fame and with a movement growing all over Europe and the Middle East, Zevi converted to Islam. However, while this did understandably cool enthusiasm, the movement survived, and Zevi had followers for several centuries afterwards.
[4] Mandaeism, a small religion which holds John the Baptist as their greatest and final prophet.
[5] New York Times’ “Thirty Greatest Living American Songwriters”. Even granting that such a list must enrage everyone in some way or another (and is meant to), this list has truly heinous omissions. I enjoyed this response (and a follow-up) from music YouTuber Rick Beato. The NYT followed up with 11 more candidates.
[6] Claude, author of the Humanitas
[7] Kimi, author of Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote
[8] Pick Your Ten - people whose opinion you actually care about, to lean on if and when everyone else starts yelling at you online.
[9] Shamans!
[10] Lentils.
[11] Ajeya asks, Should you marry her? And if you do, how should the Singularity affect your vows?
Wow I’m honored you liked multiple of my writings! :) <3 <3
What a nice surprise, thanks for the shout-out!